David Ian for Crossroads Live is delighted to announce that Charlie Brooks will play the role of The Childcatcher in the new production of the most fantasmagorical musical of all time, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG opening at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on Tuesday 30 April 2024 where it plays until 12 May 2024, before embarking on a UK tour. Elaine C. Smith will play the role of The Childcatcher in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Inverness.

Charlie will join Olivier-nominee Adam Garcia as Caractacus Potts, Emmerdale star Liam Fox as Grandpa Potts, Ellie Nunn as Truly Scrumptious, Martin Callaghan as Baron, Jenny Gayner as Baroness, Adam Stafford as Boris, Michael Joseph as Goran and John Macaulay as The Toymaker. The cast also includes Charlie Bishop, Ruaraidh Blackwood, Hadrian Delacey, Belle Kizzy Green, Tia Gyngell, Kirsty Ingram, Bibi Jay, Isabella Mason, Joe Press, Theo UK Rose, Molly Rees Howe, Callum Train and Luke Woollaston. The roles of Jeremy and Jemima Potts will be shared by Gracie Cochrane, Ayrton English, Isla Ithier, Isabella Manning, Charlie McGuire, Jasmine Nyenya, Roshan Thomson and Louis Wilkins.

Charlie Brooks is a seasoned actor with a long list of television and theatre credits to her name. Charlie is well known for playing the iconic role of Janine in BBC’s EastEnders, for which she won several British Soap awards. Her other television credits include BBC’s Bleak House, alongside Carey Mulligan and Gillian Anderson, ITV’s Wired, starring Sacha Dhawan and Jodie Whittaker, and Channel 5’s crime thriller Lie With Me, which was nominated for Best Television Script at the Australian Writers Guild awards. She has also recently wrapped on a major recurring role in ITV’s Broken News directed by Lewis Arnold and written by Jack Thorne. On stage, Charlie most recently played the role of Ursula in the National Theatre’s West End run of The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Charlie’s other theatre credits include leading roles in All in a Row at the Southwark Playhouse, Monogamy at the Park Theatre, Beautiful Thing at the Arts Theatre (West End) and Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire at Curve, Leicester.

This new production will be directed by Thom Southerland (Titanic, Parade), choreographed by Karen Bruce (BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, The Bodyguard) with Set and Costume design by Morgan Large (Newsies, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat), Lighting design by Ben Cracknell, Sound design by Gareth Tucker, Musical Supervision by George Dyer (The Wizard of Oz, Annie, Billy Elliot) and casting by Debbie O’Brien.

In CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG we meet absent-minded inventor Caractacus Potts who restores a broken-down old racing car with the help of his children Jemima and Jeremy. Soon the family discover the car has magical powers, and along with the delectable Truly Scrumptious, the family end up on a hilarious fantastical adventure to far off lands.

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG has Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, Music by Special Arrangement with Sony/ATV Publishing and is Adapted for the Stage by Jeremy Sams. Based on the MGM Motion Picture the Licensed Script is adapted by Ray Roderick. It was Originally produced by Eon Productions, Dana Broccoli, Frederick Zollo, Nicholas Paleologos, Jeffrey Sine, Miriam Productions and Michael Rose at The London Palladium.

This production is presented by permission of Music Theatre International.

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